From
the first day of the Kutch
Fair, the air is charged with
festivity as Bhuj reverberates
with a thousand colors. Enthralling
opportunities are offered
to visit the surrounding areas-even
to the interiors of Kutch
to give visitors a glimpse
of the simple lifestyle of
the tribals there. The artistic
creativity of the people residing
in the area called Bhuga can
be seen at every corner-how
they use vegetable colors
to create wonderful designs
on the walls, and further
decorating them with mirrors
and beads.

All
attention is, however, focused
on the fair grounds at Bhuj
that resound with festivity
and music. Besides all this
are the plethoras of cultural
programs organized by the
tourism department that carries
on late into the night. It
is really an opportunity to
learn of the variety of dances
that Gujarat has to offer-ranging
from brisk acrobatic movements
to a single fast beat ending
in formation of different
kinds of pyramids.

On
the last day of the fair that
coincides with the Shivaratri
festival, a grand fair is
also organized at Dhang where
local people, dressed in colorful,
traditional costumes, congregate
to pay homage at the shrine
to Mekan Dada, which incidentally,
or rather curiously, has a
Shivalinga on its premises.
A little away, in an open
field, much excitement prevails
where competitions are organized-camel,
horse, and bullock races and
the much-loved kushti (wrestling)
bouts.